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Further Reading

If reader reaction is any indication, most of you are looking forward to the new reversible USB Type-C connector spec that was finalized earlier this week. Some pictures snapped today by dianxinshouji.com.cn (and spotted by MacRumors) claim that Apple is already working on its own solution for its next-gen Lightning cables, a type of reversible connector that will fit into a USB Type-A port in either orientation. These cables would have this reversible USB Type-A plug on one end and the current Lightning connector on the other.

Such a cable would have to use very thin parts to fit into existing USB ports, and making these parts thinner is only going to increase the chances that they'll bend or break. Still, assuming the rumor is true and that the cables work well, it could be a good stopgap measure while we wait for USB Type-C connectors. While those connectors are small, reversible, and support the fast new USB 3.1 specification, it will also take many years for them to replace the current USB Type-A and Type-B connectors on various devices.

Since all we have are blurry photos grabbed from a Chinese blog, take them with a few grains of salt. They could be faked altogether, or they could be cables from an ambitious third-party and not from Apple itself. Still, the frequency and accuracy of these part leaks usually increases as we draw nearer to a new iPhone's release date, and we have less than a month to go until the next iPhone is expected to be unveiled. We've already gathered the most credible rumors here, and we'll be revisiting them again in the days before the event.

Update: An astute Ars reader points out that a company called Tripp Lite is already offers reversible USB Type-A cables that work the same way—none of them appear to have many customer reviews, but the ones that are there are generally positive. If Apple is working on one of these with a Lightning connector on the other end, at least we now know the idea has already been tried.

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Andrew Cunningham
Andrew wrote and edited tech news and reviews at Ars Technica from 2012 to 2017, where he still occasionally freelances; he is currently a lead editor at Wirecutter. He also records a weekly book podcast called Overdue. Twitter@AndrewWrites